Many types of bowling lane maintenance machines have been developed for the purpose of applying bowling lane dressing to a bowling lane in a predetermined lateral pattern across the lane. In many cases, the apparatus was developed in response to rules laid down by the American Bowling Congress. As these rules have changed, new lane maintenance machines were developed to accommodate these rules. Under current rules, virtually any lane dressing application pattern is permissible as long as the pattern adheres to the "three unit rule" which requires that, where lane dressing is applied, it must be applied in a quantity of at least three units. According to the rules promulgated by the American Bowling Congress, a unit of lane dressing is 18 microns or 7.1 micro inches thick. Therefore, it is desirable to have a lane maintenance machine which can apply lane dressing to a lane in virtually any desired pattern. Prior art devices exist which provide some variation in the application of the lane dressing pattern laterally across the bowling lane, but none provide complete versatility, especially in application of lane dressing in combined lateral and longitudinal directions. It is also desirable to have a machine which is simple and reliable, yet is capable of applying a complex pattern of lane dressing.
Ingermann, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,884, provides an oil transfer device for transferring lane dressing from a reservoir to an applicator roller. The device includes pressure fingers which can be adjusted to vary the amount of lane dressing transferred from the reservoir to a transfer roller by a wick. For any given pressure across the transfer roller, the amount of lane dressing applied from the transfer roller to the applicator roller is strictly a function of the speed of the transfer roller. Thus, varied lateral lane dressing profiles can be achieved, but there is no means to simultaneously control longitudinal application of lane dressing.
Davis U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,815 discloses a lane maintenance machine which has a plurality of discharge heads which are each movable laterally across a portion of the apparatus for discharging a predetermined amount of lane dressing onto a roller assembly as the discharge head moves across a portion of the apparatus. This device is intended to provide precise control of application of lane dressing to each portion of the transfer roller and to provide controlled variable amounts of lane dressing across each portion. Although a fairly precise lateral profile can be achieved, there are no effective means provided for varying longitudinal applications, especially for a "step" tapered application wherein there are sharp differences in the amount of lane dressing applied at incremental longitudinal locations along varying sections of the bowling lane. Incremental longitudinal control is made difficult because the discharge of lane dressing onto the roller assembly occurs prior to the machine moving along the bowling lane during lane dressing application.
Ingermann, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,277, provides a variable speed transfer roller for applying lane dressing from a reservoir to an applicator roller. By varying the speed of the transfer roller, the amount of dressing applied across the applicator roller can also be varied. However, the change is uniform laterally across the applicator roller and hence laterally across the bowling lane.
Davis U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,290 discloses an apparatus for applying lane dressing in which the reservoir has a plurality of wicks extending from the top thereof, each of which can be selectively controlled to bring them into and out of contact with the transfer roller to apply lane dressing selectively across a distance equal to the width of each wick. This apparatus is capable of some lateral and longitudinal control of lane dressing application, but does not provide for application of lane dressing in predetermined amounts to each board laterally across the bowling lane.
Smith, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,728, discloses an apparatus which has a segmented transfer roller wherein each segment can be driven at different speeds. By varying the speed of the different segments, different amounts of lane dressing can be applied across different portions of the bowling lane. This apparatus is capable of some longitudinal and lateral control of lane dressing applications, but does not provide means for selectively varying the lane dressing on each board both laterally across a bowling lane and longitudinally along the bowling lane.
Smith, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,871, discloses an apparatus which has a segmented transfer roller comprising a plurality of roller segments. A plurality of pivotally mounted reservoirs are provided, one reservoir corresponding in length with each roller segment and being mounted for pivotal movement to bring its wick into and out of operative contact with the respective roller segment. This arrangement provides more possible variations in the application of lane dressing to a bowling lane but still does not permit the application of different amounts of lane dressing to each individual board in combined lateral and longitudinal applications.